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Mayor Rob Ford’s partisan sniping against Wynne does Toronto no favours: James

Toronto’s fiscal relationship with the province of Ontario is so entangled in cost-shared programs, ancient funding disputes and indecipherable money manoeuvres that it’s a recipe for perennial disputes.

Every Toronto mayor at one time during his or her term in office is bound to disagree with funding decisions delivered by provincial decree. We are not talking about a debate among equals. The premier has the legal authority to download, upload, sideload or impact the city with costs as the premier sees fit.

So, there is nothing new about Mayor Rob Ford being mad at the premier. Such an expression of frustration or anger is expected as a byproduct of the murky and deliberately obscured system of service delivery and funding.

What is potentially injurious to Toronto is Mayor Ford’s strident opposition to Premier Kathleen Wynne — not over budget cuts or provincial policies aimed at Toronto, but because of raw and partisan politics.

The mayor wants the Premier out of office and has been campaigning to have her replaced by Tim Hudak and the Conservatives.

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Inappropriately, he and his brother use their radio show, news conferences and city council speeches to slam the Liberals over ehealth, Ornge, gas plants cancellation and whatever provincial issues come to mind. That may play well with Ford Nation and the mayor’s conservative base, but it is an abuse of his office. And it does not serve Torontonians well.

It exposes Toronto to retaliatory actions from Queen’s Park. It feeds anger among Liberals. It fuels vexatious actions from provincial ministries that can easily impact the cost of service in Toronto. And it leads to an unhealthy relationship where both sides are warring and pointing fingers at each other instead of negotiating through disputes.

In essence, if you are going to pick a fight with someone who has all the power and the authority to affect your budget, it had better be over an issue of great importance and fundamental justice. The current dispute over $150 million in cut grants over three years is important, but not significant enough to trigger the current war of words. In fact, its genesis is the animus that Ford has expressed and continues to engender towards the provincial government.

David Miller turned in his NDP party membership as soon as he became mayor of Toronto. He didn’t want to appear partisan while wearing the mayor’s chain of office. The mayor of all the people must be viewed as having no political party affiliation so as to speak to all parties, for all city residents.

It was a wise move. Freed of the perception of political bias, Miller could stand up for Toronto against the provincial Liberals without appearing to pursue a partisan political agenda.

Miller, partly trading on the grunt work preceding him, cashed in spectacularly. During his tenure, Toronto received more provincial assistance than could ever be imagined. The great relationship between Miller and Premier Dalton McGuinty was borne out of mutual respect.

Before Miller, Mel Lastman made it a point to tell everyone he had no political friends in Ottawa or at Queen’s Park. As such, he was ready and willing to slam any government or minister who dumped on Toronto or prescribed policy or legislation inimical to the city’s interest. Conversely, he embraced anyone who came to the city’s aid. Disagreements, though sharp, rose or fell based on the issue, not because Lastman went about telling Torontonians how to vote.

Common sense dictates that the mayor of Toronto avoid potshots, political interference, unnecessary fights. A city is the creature of the province. With the stroke of a pen, a premier can wipe out a council, change conventions, add or take away powers, impose new costs or relieve a municipality of burdens. A mayor may have the political force of 360,000 citizens who voted for him, but practically speaking, that is of no effect if the clout is abused.

A mayor abuses his political force when he uses his office in partisan attacks against another order of government.

To slam the Wynne government for cutting $150 million in grants is using your office effectively. To slam Wynne over the cancellation of the gas plants is meddling. To present your brother as a candidate for the opposition Conservatives and actively use mayoral time to promote the Conservatives is an abuse of your role.

Worse, as we’ve seen, it offers little defence against counter-attacks and spite.

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